Hairdresser jailed over upskirt videos of client, schoolgirls in uniform
SINGAPORE — A 38-year-old hairdresser who tailed schoolgirls in uniforms to take upskirt videos of them was on Thursday (18 June) jailed for 19 weeks.
Ivan Seah Kim Ming, a Singaporean, had earlier pleaded guilty to 11 charges of insulting a woman’s modesty, including of a client in her home.
Another 17 similar counts were considered in sentencing.
Offered schoolgirls money
Seah’s offences spanned a decade from 2007 to 2017. His crimes came to light after a member of the public came across a link he posted on Carousell in 2016, offering young girls money in exchange for upskirt videos, and made a police report.
The perpetrator also set up an account on Locanto. In all, three girls sent him upskirt videos.
“When the users contacted him, he would ask them to record videos of themselves in pinafores, flipping their pinafore up and adjusting their blouses from underneath,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Seah Ee Wei.
“He told them to record themselves from a few angles, and offered around $10 to $20 more if they showed their panties,” the DPP added.
The culprit offered students $35 for a two-minute video and $45 for a three-minute video. He would also provide them with a script and offered them extra cash if they recited from it. The script included phrases such as, “Hey what are you looking at? Do you like to see me adjust my shirt?” and “Do you like to look at my panties underneath?”
After he was arrested, police found him to have at least 26 upskirt videos involving at least 25 victims. Of these, 10 videos involved schoolgirls dressed in their uniform.
Tailed schoolgirls in uniform
The culprit also tailed schoolgirls in uniforms and recorded upskirt videos of them from as early as 2007.
On one occasion, he took an upskirt video of a student in a junior college uniform as she walked up the stairs of an overhead bridge.
“On the overhead bridge, unbeknownst to the victim, the accused also lifted up the skirt of the victim twice with his fingers capturing another video recording of the inner thighs and white coloured panties. Keeping this video recording on, he walked up to her and videoed her face,” said the prosecutor.
The perpetrator later transferred the two videos to his desktop computer.
On another occasion, the culprit followed a student as she walked up the stairs at Bishan MRT Station. He captured a video which recorded her inner thighs, panties and face.
He also took upskirt videos at Far East Plaza, Serangoon bus interchange, and other unknown locations. Some of the videos captured his victim’s faces.
Took upskirt video in client’s home
In August 2017, a regular customer of Seah’s texted him for a hair appointment. She would dye her hair at his salon about once every two months. As she was pressed for time, he suggested going to her home for the hair treatment and she agreed.
There, Seah took some photos of her hair with her consent for promotional purposes and for her to see the end results.
“Unbeknownst to the victim, this was a pretext and the accused had placed his iPhone SE mobile phone, which was in video recording mode, under the skirt of the victim, capturing video recordings of the inner thighs and the grey coloured panties of the victim,” said the prosecutor.
“When they were in the victim’s room, the accused took two upskirt videos of the victim. The accused then suggested that they move to the kitchen where it was brighter. There, he took three more upskirt videos of the victim,” the DPP added.
For each of his 11 proceeded charges, Seah could have been jailed for up to one year and also fined.
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